Trail Blazers Blog

Ted Cruz huddled with House conservatives

Sen. Ted Cruz, left, gets into a Senate elevator with his chief strategist, Jason Johnson, following a vote Wednesday, Oct. 9. Democrats have issued taunts for weeks that House Republicans are taking their cues from Cruz.

WASHINGTON – Democrats have issued taunts for weeks that House Republicans are taking their cues from Sen. Ted Cruz.

On Monday night, the Texan was spotted huddling for two hours or so with 15 to 20 House conservatives – apparently strategizing an impending bipartisan Senate deal that would reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling without achieving their top aim, derailing Obamacare.

If Cruz and his allies – among them Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler– hoped to keep the confab secret, they picked the wrong place: Tortilla Coast, a popular spot for Capitol Hill aides, lobbyists, and fund-raisers a short block from the U.S. House office buildings.

Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said this afternoon that the senator was simply “regrouping with House members, as he's done throughout all this.”

On Tuesday morning, House Speaker John Boehner unveiled a House GOP proposal that Senate Democrats and the White House immediately rejected, because it did take aim at Obamacare.

According to Roll Call, Cruz's basement meeting Monday night involved some of the most conservative members of the House, including Gohmert and Reps. Steve King of Iowa, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Raúl R. Labrador of Idaho, Justin Amash of Michigan, Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Tim Huelskamp of Kansas.

So far, Cruz has been deflecting questions about whether he would try to block any deal that failed to make significant impact on Obamacare. As time runs out toward Thursday’s default deadline, he or any other senator holds the power to block or at least delay a deal through a simple procedural maneuver.

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The blog for the Dallas Morning News politics team tracks Dallas Fort Worth area, Texas and national campaigns.